Keepers of the Gate
by Hunter113
Summary: "And how can a man die better than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers and the temples of his gods." When Grimm are charging Cardin's defensive position, he faces it head on. Because now he fights for those he wants to protect. Suddenly dying isn't as scary as it was before. Oneshot, distant successor to History Lesson. Constructive criticism is appreciated.


**AN:**** I own nothing; someone else owns all of the following. Roosterteeth owns all intellectual property associated with RWBY. I am but a lowly college student so unless you want my bowl of Ramen then don't sue me… Please.**

Keepers of the Gate

Cardin grimaced in the late afternoon light as he surveyed the valley before him, from atop his perch on the northeast gate of Vale he could see the darkness. Grimm swarmed with ferocity and malice through the orange and amber leaves of Forever Fall, shaking trees and howling for the blood of the people of Vale.

"Welp, looks like we're screwed." Grumbled the large sniper of team VLNT in a stoic manner as he holstered his sniper spear. He and Cardin stood watch over the gate to the residential district of Vale as a horde of Grimm swarmed through the forests towards the gates. "I give us thirty minutes, maybe less before they're on the gates." The larger raven haired boy had a look in his jade eyes that said he'd given up already as he lumbered towards the ladder down to the streets. "After that everyone in this district is as good as dead."

Cardin sighed as he took in the situation. "Are you always such a spot of shine?" Grumbled the burdened warrior as he tried to think up a strategy to hold the gates. The other boy, Nicholaus if Cardin remembered, snorted and shot a snide look at him.

"Are you always an asshole?" Cardin winced just slightly at the remark, He had quit bullying people, even the faunus, after his first semester at Beacon, but the first impression left it's mark on him. Sighing loudly, Cardin stared down at the fortifications that the militia and his teams had built.

Thankfully the Forever Fall emptied into a sort of choke point between two steep, rocky ridges that would funnel the ravenous Grimm though a long narrow pass before they reached the road approach to the gates. Along that road, the militia had set up nearly half a dozen small foxholes to safely fire whatever firearms they had from. The road was covered in rows of wooden stakes that the hunters and militia had scavenged from a nearby logging camp that would be used to slow the Grimm down by either impaling them or slowing them down as they traversed the deadly array of spikes.

Taking in a deep breath to calm his nerves, Cardin tried not to vomit up his lunch in nervousness. Not seven months ago, he was a blissfully ignorant and arrogant bully who's biggest concern was who he would steal his homework from next. Now that blonde goofball of a knight and the little red twerp of a reaper were leading an army against an evil witch who can control Grimm and they put Cardin in charge of holding the gates to the residential district against a gigantic horde of Grimm.

Snorting in amusement, Cardin had to chuckle as he remembered that the district he was holding had the highest population of Faunus civilians in Vale. So being the son of the mayor who is infamous for his thinly veiled anti-faunus policies had made trying to get a militia together an interesting task. 'Looks like Oum has a sense of humor.' Cardin thought dryly as he looked at his tarnished armor, he could still remember the jeers and rotten fruit that had been thrown at him when he addressed the district about volunteers for the militia.

"Hey Cardin!" Snapping out of his reverie, Cardin looked over the edge of the tower to see Sky Lark standing at the bottom of the ladder. "Some of the militia members found something that we might be able to use." Nodding in understanding, Cardin put his own emotional issues on the back burner and slid down the ladder. Motioning for Sky to lead the way, the two teens started walking towards a warehouse just inside the gates. The two teens walked in silence before Sky broke it with a question.

"Hey." Started Sky, his voice had a little warble to it and Cardin could see his hands clenched around his halberd to keep them from shaking. "We're all gonna make it... right?" Cardin's answer was immediate as he turned to his friend and fellow teammate, the best smile he could manage on his face.

"Damn straight we are." The words felt hollow and empty as he said them and put a hand on Sky's shoulder. It seemed to work though as Sky relaxed immensely and smiled back weakly. Turning to the warehouse, Cardin asked about it. "So what did they find?"

Shaking out of his funk, Sky opened the door to show ten small crates. One was open and inside of it were a dozen magma red dust crystals. "One of the militia members said these crystals are mining charges." Started sky as the duo walked over to the open crate and stared at the glowing crystals, they gave off an almost searing heat and hummed lowly with sealed power. "Apparently they're very powerful charges." Continued Sky as he put the lid back on the crate. "He says he can probably make a remote minefield with a little time… or he can use them to collapse the pass and buy us time to set up more defenses, but that'll take a lot longer."

Cardin hummed in thought as he listened to Sky give him the options. On one hand, being able to blow the monsters to bits before they could even lose a single person was a great idea… but bringing down the pass would force the Grimm to climb over the now substantial pile of rubble which would give the crews more time to set up fortifications.

"So what's the call boss?" Cardin nearly jumped at the new, withered voice as he turned to look at an older man with a mole's nose and some miner overalls. "Do you want me to make the mines or blow the shale cliffs and close the pass?" Asked the man as he hobbled over to one of the crates and picked it up with a strength that defied his withered frame.

Cardin looked over to Sky and nodded. "All right, Sky go and grab a crew of militia and help carry these boxes out to the cliffs and get them set up." Started Cardin as he marched to the door. "I'm gonna go grab some volunteers and we're going to buy you some time." Cardin was surprised at the amount of strength it took him to keep walking. There was a cold, twisted knot of terror in his gut and it seemed to be sapping him of his strength as he walked back to the gates.

Upon reaching the gates, he spotted the telltale green mohawk of Russell Thrush and team VLNT looking at the massive steel gates while Dove Bronzewing welded some pieces onto it. The massive gates had been barricaded, barred, reinforced, and welded shut in an attempt to keep the Grimm out. Ladders and ropes allowed the militia to cross the wall but when the Grimm got here that wouldn't last.

"Are you SURE this is gonna hold Dove?" Asked Velvet as she looked at the mass of metal struts that hastily crisscrossed the gate. The shorthaired brunette only nodded in his typical quiet manner as he stood from his kneeling position where he had been adding another weld.

Velvet fingered the sleeve to her combat uniform as she looked away; she had always been a little off put by the smallest member of team CRDL and not just because they had been bullies at the beginning of the year. The boy was incredibly smart but he seemed to always give off an air of annoyance and brevity.

'It must be an engineer thing.' Thought Velvet as her friend Talon bounced and yelled. "Woo! All right, now that we don't have to worry about the gate and Velvet got as many people as she could to safe places, we can focus on my favorite part." Smashing one gauntleted hand into the other, he growled lowly as he flared his orange aura and the tiger Faunus in him surfaced and his eyes glowed a bit. "Slaughtering Grimm."

"It will hold." Said Cardin as he walked up to the group. Dove was a master at armor forging and had improved all of team CRDL's armor immensely just in the first few weeks of school. It was honestly the only reason Cardin had survived the swipe from that Ursa Major after his aura had run out back in the Forever Fall so long ago. Looking to the girl with glasses, a beret, and a giant ammo box on her hip, Leandra if he remembered right, Cardin gave an inquisitive look.

The girl rolled her eyes and gave a snort of indignation. "No," She said with a heavy Versailian* accent. "None of zese people can shoot a gun with any sort of skill." She said haughtily as she gave her report. "However they can kill Grimm with them if they try and that is the best you will get."

Giving a nod of acknowledgement, Cardin looked to the gate. "Well, obviously Dove and Russ have gotten their job of reinforcing the gate done." Said Cardin as he gave his two teammates a nod to their work before looking to Velvet and the tiger faunus Talon. "I overheard that Velvet here got people to cover, so that's out of the way. Did you give the militia people a crash course in melee combat?"

Talon smiled and put both his hands behind his head, puffing his chest out in pride. "Of course," Said the spiky haired faunus as he laughed slightly. "Half of these guys are dock and factory workers so they're well acquainted with melee weapons." Smiling a bit more, he gestured to a group of militiamen with sledgehammers and axes off to the right training. "They took to it like a fish to water… Mmm fish." Finished Talon as he drooled a bit at the thought of some fish for dinner.

Ignoring the drooling teen, Cardin looked to the rest of the group. "Fine, gather the rest of the militia members." Ordered Cardin as he checked his scroll and had to fight down the paradoxical feeling of cold fear and burning anxiety for the fight to come. "We have twenty minutes till the Grimm reach the pass." Looking to Russell, Cardin started rattling off orders. "Russ, go with Sky and the group he's with, they're going to bring down the pass with some explosives we found." Russell nodded before giving a devil horns to Cardin with a smile and running off to find Sky.

Turning to Talon and Leandra, who were now arguing over whether or not fish was a good choice for an after battle dinner, Cardin broke their argument with an agitated whistle. "Talon, rally some volunteers from the militia for a dangerous mission; I'm going to need Dove's and your help for it." Started Cardin before turning to Leandra, "As for you, continue setting up as many of those foxholes as you can. My plan might fail, so if you want to live to see tomorrow you'll need to be ready." Rolling her eyes, Leandra and Talon set off to do their separate jobs, Talon excitingly bouncing along and Leandra rattling of what Cardin would guess were swears in Versailian.

Walking towards the staging area, Cardin continued to rattle off orders over his shoulder. "Nicholaus, Get back up on that tower and give us as much sniper cover as you can. Started Cardin as he check all his gear and began to mentally prepare. As for you Vel-"

"I'm going with you." Said the rabbit faunus as she matched Cardin's stride. Cardin opened his mouth to argue but she cut him off before a single syllable could leave his mouth. "If you and your group are going to try and hold that pass it's to be bloody." Explained Velvet as she kept marching with him up onto the stage at the center of the staging area. "If so, then you'll need a healer to last long enough to matter; my little box of tricks can do that and more." Finished Velvet as she patted the large box strapped to her back.

The two teens stood in silence and glared at each other for a few moments, a battle of wills occurring between the two leaders as they fought for victory. Finally Cardin relented, "Fine, but we likely won't be able to spare anyone to watch out for you so you'll have to hold your own."

Velvet snorted lightly as she walked off the stage. "Wouldn't be the first time."

Staring at the faunus as went to prepare, Cardin mentally droned, 'well she's a snarky one.'

Turning to the group of a dozen militiamen and Talon in front of him. Cardin fought down his nerves at the skeptical looks from the gathered warriors. "What I am about to ask you men to do here will very likely result in some of us dying," Started Cardin as he brandished his mace and hefted it onto his shoulder. "However it will also likely stop the horde dead in its tracks long enough for us to turn this place into a fortress."

Remembering the conversation that Cardin had with Jaune back in October, Cardin continued with renewed vigor. "Today we don't just fight for ourselves. We fight for the men beside us, we fight for the families within these walls, we fight for our very existence!" Bellowed Cardin as he sauntered along the stage, making sure to make eye contact with the men before him.

"When we fight for others their strength becomes ours. The only difference between the impossible and the possible is a man's determination. So tell me," Yelled Cardin as he pointed his mace at the crowd. "Which of you is determined enough to fight for tomorrow against the odds?"

For what felt like an eternity to Cardin, the crowd was silent, looks of disbelief and conviction liberally splattered throughout the group. Then all at once, they all roared in approval. Hammers, axes, shotguns, and rifles were all hefted into the air in an act of support. Smiling as the war cry shook through him, Cardin raised his mace to the sky. "Tonight we will hold the line!"

* * *

Fifteen short minutes later; Cardin, Velvet, Talon, Dove, and a dozen brave men and women stood in a defensive position just behind the exit of the pass as Russell and Sky helped a crew of militia men on the cliffs wire explosives along the pass walls. The evening sun bathed the pass in a blood red light as the group readied themselves. The wind carried through the trees of Forever Fall and into the pass, the howls and roars of Grimm baying for blood following it.

Nearly everyone in the formation had the jitters. Some only had a shake in the foot or just had their breaths coming a little faster. Others were shaking like leaves, teeth clattering or limbs trembling. Cardin himself had a solid knot of fear in his gut that made breathing a more difficult task than it should have been. As he looked ahead to the trees of the Forever Fall from the front of the formation, Cardin had to hold his mace in both hands to keep them from shaking.

Suddenly the howls and roars ceased and the only noise in the pass was the sounds of hammers and picks chipping away at the walls to plant the charges. Cardin didn't really pay all that much attention in professor Port's classes, but he did remember one thing.

"RIFLES UP!" Yelled Cardin as he readied himself. "HERE THEY COME!" Within seconds, Beowolves were rushing out of the woods towards the pass. A volley of bullets met the monstrous wolves as any one with a gun in the group opened fire. Bodies, blood, and flesh went flying as round after round were dumped into the wave of wolves.

Most were annihilated within the first few volleys but a few more resilient ones made it to the defensive line where Cardin and those without ranged weapons stood guard. Cardin swung his mace as a three-legged Beowolf swung both its still working clawed arms at him. The mace met with a wet spluch as it smashed into the beast's skull, and sent it flipping away in a shower of black blood and brain matter. The rest of the line had similar results as the first of the Beowolves were annihilated.

* * *

The process repeated several more times as a wave of low tier Grimm would rush the group, be shot to pieces or smashed to paste, and another wave would come. Then the bigger Grimm started showing up.

* * *

Cardin and the group had just cleared a wave of Beowolves and a few Borbatusks when Cardin heard it, a low rumbling hiss followed by an unearthly roar. Looking at the mouth of the pass Cardin paled and his blood froze, out from the tree prowled a large beast, feline in appearance, it's skin was black as night except for magma red pulsating veins along it's side. Bone ribs lined its sides and spine.

Its head was broad and short, looking like a female lion, sleek and shorthaired. Red eyes burned with malice like red hot coals as it let out a low rumbling growl, black, putrid smoke pooling from its jaws. From behind it rose a serpent's body, the red veins much more concentrated along it's body, it let out a high pitched hiss as a small jet of fire shot skywards.

"CHIMERA!" Yelled Cardin as he pointed, Adrenaline rushing through his system as he tried to remember how to kill one. "RIFLES AIM FOR THE MOUTH! DON'T LET IT BLAST US WITH FLAMES!" Rifles and shotguns coughed explosions of lead as they tried to kill the beast.

The creature seemed to smile as it stalked forth, bullets and shot bouncing off its thick hide as it took a deep breath, it's mouth glowing with hellfire. Seeing the impending doom, Cardin rushed forward with his mace at the ready to try and top it. But before he could get there, a small brown and tan body landed in front of him and spread her glowing blue hands.

The dark red hellfire spewed forth with a raging ferocity and clashed against a blue hexagonal shield wall of aura, sending the torrent of flame skyward in a wide plume. After a few seconds, the fire died and Velvet jumped forward, closely followed by Cardin.

Velvet landed atop the thing's head in a single bound, her legs coiling as both her feet made contact with it's snout. Using her momentum, she jumped skywards just as Cardin brought his mace down onto the creature's skull, making it hiss and scream in agony, a noise that made Cardin flinch at it's sharpness.

Taking advantage of the large warrior's weakness, the snakehead lunged forward with venom-coated fangs at the ready. Before it could reach him, the snake's head jerked backwards as thin razor wires wrapped around it's neck and tugged tight before ripping clean through then neck, making the body fall to pieces. Giving the creature's lion head a few more good solid whacks with his mace, the chimera finally fell to the ground, skull shattered and brains mushed.

Panting in exhaustion, Cardin looked over to Velvet who had a smug look on her face as she sauntered by him back towards the line. "Be careful now, we can't always afford anyone to watch your back. So you'll just have to hold your own." Mocked the rabbit faunus as she threw Cardin's line back at him while Cardin flushed in embarrassment.

Somewhere above him, Cardin heard Russell cackling like a hyena. "Damn son, you got burned and it wasn't from the fire breathing monster!" Glaring vehemently up at the green haired offender, Cardin kicked a rock and marched back to the line, muttering something about smartasses.

* * *

Afterwords the waves started coming more frequently and more injuries started to pile up. Within another ten minutes the group had been pushed back halfway through the pass and three militia members had been wounded with another two dead. Cardin roared as he swung his mace and mulched another ursa's skull before twisting to avoid its pack mate's blow. "SKY!" Yelled Cardin as he countered with a devastating jab that smashed half it's face in. "HOW WE LOOKING ON THOSE CHARGES?"

"GIVE US FIVE MORE MINUTES!" Replied Sky as Russell, the old miner, and him continued wiring the last charge. Rallying the remaining forces, Cardin turned to look down the pass when suddenly a sharp pain tore into his gut. Time seemed to slow and the world deafened as he looked to the foot long quill buried in his chest just below his sternum.

Gasping for breath, Cardin looked up and swore. At the end of the pass, beyond the sea of black blood and flesh stood three monsters shoulder to shoulder. Each the sizes of a small car, the creatures' backs were covered in thousands of foot long, white, bony quills. Skull plates of thick bone covered each of their faces and legs; the creatures were slow moving. Their only weak spot for most melee weapons was their fleshy bellies close to the ground making them nearly impossible to kill by melee standards.

Each of the creatures' backs tensed for a moment and Cardin knew what was coming. "Thistleback! Hit the deck!" Screamed Cardin as he fell to his knees, gasping in pain. The creatures flexed and a dozen shards each flew forth and sailed over the people who dropped down. One man to Cardin's right was too slow and took a half dozen quills to the chest and neck before gurgling out a small cry of agony and falling to the stony floor with blood gushing from his wounds and mouth. Reaching over, Cardin pulled the man to him to hold for the last few seconds as the man jabbered something in terror through the blood before the light faded from his eyes and he stopped moving.

Pushing through pain and using his anger to fuel him, Cardin stood to his feet and grabbed the man's sledgehammer in one hand and his mace in the other. One of the creatures had lumbered to the midway point in the pass and it's and Cardin's eyes locked in a single terrible moment.

Roaring in primal bloodlust, both parties lunged at each other. The Thistleback fired a shot at Cardin, his mace blocking the shot as Cardin sprints even more to get level with the monster. The monster prepared another barrage and fired but its aim was wide and it only shredded Cardin's left cheek with a few pins. Before it can reload, Cardin was on top of it.

Letting out a savage scream, Cardin swung the sledgehammer with all his might and cracked the left side of the creature's skull plate. Spinning on the spot, Cardin brought his mace down and crushed the other side of the skull plate. By now the creature is screaming in agony and trying to get it's needles to fire, but Cardin is deaf to it's cries as he swings again and again, black blood and gore flying up and coating the teen warrior with every swing.

After nearly a dozen swings, Cardin's weapons started hitting stone instead of flesh and the jar of the impact shook him from his reverie. The creature's skull is no more and it's body laid limp before him as a twisted form of cover to the rest of the Thistlebacks' artillery barrage.

Words finally return to him in the form of screaming. "CARDIN THE CHARGES ARE SET, BUT YOU'RE IN THE BLAST ZONE!" Yelled Sky, or maybe Velvet he can't seem to remember which one is which. Moving to run, Cardin gasps in agony as a pain rips through his right leg. Looking over, he came face to maw with a Beowolf as it's head explodes mid lunge from a rifle round.

Looking down at his leg, Cardin yelps in terror as he watches blood pool from the large tear in his calf, there is no way he can run now. Gasping in terror and agony, Cardin built up his strength and stood, just barely, to fight off the rest of the horde. JUST DO IT! Screamed Cardin as another Beowolf meets its end at the hands of his mace.

He didn't hear anything, but he can't really with the blood rushing through his ears and the roars of the Grimm in front of him so he just assumes they will do it. After a few seconds of fighting Cardin felt wetness on his face, not the sticky hot wetness of Grimm blood but the cool thin wetness of tears. It took a few seconds, but just then Cardin realized how afraid to die he was.

Gasping and shaking in terror, he continued to swing and smash until he heard the first explosion at the end of the pass and watched as chunks of shale the size of houses sheared from the cliff and fell downwards onto the horde. Their screams were a small comfort to him as he looked up to see a shelf falling towards him. Closing his eyes and falling down, Cardin let a strange sensation of acceptance flow through him as the shelf crashed down on top of the Thistleback corpse.

* * *

The former pass was quiet for a few minutes as the dust cleared and the last of the shelf barricaded the pass. Howls and roars echo from the other side of the pass but before long they cease and all is quiet as a deathly silence descends on the battlefield.

Before anyone can react Sky, Russell, and even Dove are on the rocks, tears and cries echoing off the pass as they start throwing rocks aside. "NO CARDIN!" Screamed Russell as he threw a rock the size of his own body to the side before grabbing another.

Sky began to climb to the top of the pile, tears rolling down his face as he tried to move some rocks to the side. Dove is with him, tears and whispers of sorrow streaming from the boy like a broken record. "You rat bastard." Gasps Sky as he pulls another rock to the side. "You said we were all gonna make it dammit!"

The rest of the militia members at the foot of the pile pant and cry both in relief for their survival and in sorrow for their losses. Some of them looked up to the boys trying to dig their friend out with pity, others looked to the rocks in amazement at the willpower it would take to sacrifice himself for so many people.

Talon sat on the ground, bones weary and bloodlust exhausted as he looked around at the survivors before stopping. Looking around again he pales and checks again before jumping up in terror. "Oh Oum, Velvet! VELVET WHERE ARE YOU?" Yelled the Tiger faunus, his eyes dilated with terror so powerful it seeps into his voice.

The rest of the group looked around and to their terror, found that indeed the rabbit faunus hunter was missing. Talon fretted in terror as he searched for any sign of the girl, but he couldn't find anything, not even the girl's 'Mystery Box' as she would call it. "VEL, WHERE ARE YOU?" As the moments passed by Talon became more and more panicked before suddenly Sky perked up.

"Hold up, quiet everyone!" Yelled the blue haired lancer of CRDL. There was a voice on the wind, coming from higher up on the pile. Jumping up from his despair, Sky scrambled up the stony slope till he reached the top of the pile. There in the middle of the pile was a wide hole, a hexagonal blue shield shaped like a cylinder holding the rocky avalanche back. Sprinting to the edge, Sky looked down into the hole and nearly jumped for joy.

"There you are!" Yelled Velvet as she kneeled over Cardin, one hand holding a set of wires that made up the shield and the other holding a set of wires wrapped around Cardin, a light blue glow coming from both the wires and Cardin. "Now get a rope or ladder or something before I run out of aura and this little hidey-hole collapses on both of us." Snapped the healer as she sweated bullets, the exertion of having to run both a shield and heal after that long battle taking it's toll.

Sky had ran off before she'd finished half her threat, leaving both teens at the bottom of that hole, gasping for breath for different, yet similar, reasons. "Why," Started Cardin, his breathes coming out in wheezes as Velvet's aura kept him alive. "Why did you save me?" Both teens knew he had become a better person, but he had nearly made Velvet fail the first semester with his bullying and that wasn't just something you would forgive and forget about.

Sighing is frustration, Velvet fought to keep her focus and find a comfortable spot to sit while Sky ran for help. "Well," Started Velvet as she smirked at the broken teen. "Someone has to watch your back since you apparently can't hold your own."

Cardin did a small gurgling wheeze that probably accounted for a laugh as he lay on the stone floor looking up at the fading twilight. "Seriously though," He coughed out as Velvet sighed and prepared to rebuke him. "Even if you felt a need to give me a second chance, the entire pass was collapsing on us. You should have stayed out of the way before you got crushed." Cardin had a somewhat sentimental look on his face as it regained it's flush slowly and some of his few lesser wounds healed up.

Velvet raised an eyebrow at the wounded teen and smirked. "Are you saying you would have rather died than get saved?" Cardin at least had the shame to look away, a slight pout on his face.

"Well if I have to get sassed for it…" Grumbled Cardin quietly before being bopped in the head by Velvet, her rabbit ears picking up every quiet word. Grumbling, Cardin sighed and looked to Velvet with a serious look. "Seriously though, I didn't deserve for you to risk your life for me." Started Cardin before looking to the twilight sky and raising his hand. "I was weak enough to give in to my foolishness and go in, putting myself in a position to be killed. But instead of dying, you put your life on the line and saved me… So thank you."

For a moment Velvet just sat there in shock and looked at the larger boy with an impressed look. "You're welcome." Replied Velvet numbly as the two teens sat in silence for a few more moments. Finally a groaning Cardin broke the silence.

"Don't suppose you have painkillers in that little box of tricks? Otherwise I could use a kiss better." Joked Cardin as he touched his blood and gore covered face gingerly, his head pounding in pain. Velvet blushed very slightly and increased the aura flow to Cardin making the larger boy sigh in relief as some of the pain melted away.

"Shush you," Started Velvet as she forced the small blush away while willing Sky to hurry up with that damned rope. "Don't make me hurt you more." Almost as if she had willed it to happen Talon, Sky, Dove, and Russell appeared over the hole with a rope, stretcher, and a ladder.

"Cardin you glorious bastard!" Yelled Russell as he and the other lowered the stretcher and ladder down. "You're going to give us a heart attack one day, ya know?" Laughing at his friend's attempt to lighten the situation, Cardin shimmied onto the stretcher and Velvet disconnected the Aura wires from his body.

"Yeah, yeah, it all keeps you on your toes." Replied Cardin as the stretcher started to rise and rise until he was over the lip of the hole and being hoisted up to his feet with Russell. Turning to Talon, Sky, and Dove, Cardin started rattling off orders again. "Okay, you guys get her out of there and use the stretcher to get her back to the gates. Once you get there don't let her try to work either she'll need the rest as she's exhausted both physically and aura wise."

Talon looked to him like he'd grown another head. "Oh don't piss yourself, her bark is worse than her bite. Laughed Cardin as he and Russell started to trudge back to the gates."

As the duo crested the rocky hill, the militia members looked up to them and all cheered and whooped as the duo worked their way down the tricky slope. Once they were at the bottom, the crowd started to chant. "Gatekeeper!" Looking over to Russell, Cardin raised an inquisitive eyebrow and only got a blank shrug back in reply.

Looking over to the old miner from before, Russell motioned him over as the duo continued to limp up the hill to the gates. "Hey Pete, why are they chanting Gatekeeper?" Asked Russell as the old man walked up beside them. He laughed loudly, his voice giving it a whistle like tone.

"Oh boyo," Started Pete as he took Cardin's other arm and, once again defying his looks, helped hoist Cardin up straighter with little to no effort. "They're calling the boss here the Gatekeeper cause he held that pass like a gatekeeper, you know 'none shall pass' and all that."

Cardin raised his eyebrows in shock, as he looked around at the crowd of defenders all cheering and yelling Gatekeeper. "I brought the pass down on my head while I was still under it, how was that gatekeeping?" Cardin said numbly as he was hailed a hero. Some part of Cardin enjoyed the praise that he normally never got but at the same time it felt weird for a bunch of fauna to be hailing him as a hero. Old Pete just laughed and looked to Cardin.

"Means that you were willing to, metaphorically of course, lock yourself outside the gate to defend it." Replied Pete as the group reached the top of the hill and looked back out at the small valley leading to the ridge that Cardin and his team had just collapsed on top of him. "Sacrifice your life to defend these people. That means a mighty lot to them."

Taking in the praise, Cardin frowned a bit and looked to the dirt. "I wasn't the only one to hold that gate." Murmured Cardin as he remembered the man that was killed by the Thistleback. Looking to Pete with conviction, Cardin knew what to do. "If they insist on calling me Gatekeeper then they can call everyone else who was with me out there a Gatekeeper as well." Smiling a bit, Pete laughed and waved in acknowledgement as he started to walk away and tell the others of the change. Coming up to the gate, neither boy wanted to try and climb the ladder up to the tower then climb back down another one to get inside, so they just sat down and rested.

"Maybe you should write an account about all this when this is all said and done." Said Russell as the duo sat outside the steel gates and watched as the twilight fades into night. "You know, get rich off of the royalties of it all."

Rolling his eyes as his aura worked overtime to restore his body, Cardin just snorted. "You just want to reap the royalties as well." Russell laughed and rubbed his chin while giving a cheeky grin.

"Well I am your dashing second in command so I would of course be mentioned and play a big role in it all." Replied Russell as the two watched the rest of the Gatekeepers come up and be congratulated and lauded. The sight made Cardin smile, even laugh when a very angry Velvet Scarlatina came by strapped to her stretcher as she swore up and down to do terrible things to Cardin for leaving her to be tied to a stretcher. His only response was 'General of the district, my rules.'

Eventually Cardin snorted and looked to his 'second in command' with a mocking grin. "You know," He started with a grin. "Technically Velvet or Dove were closer to me in battle so they would be whom I list as my second in command."

Russell feigned a hurt look, "Yeah for one battle. What does that make me, chopped liver?" Cardin pretended to be thoughtful for a moment before grinning and snapping his fingers in a show of inspiration.

"Mohwak Assistant guy." Replied Cardin as Russell face palmed and sighed despondently.

"Oh well, what would you even call it?" Asked Russell, a teasing tone in his voice as the sun fell fully below the horizon and the sky started to turn to night. "The day I brought a cliff down on my head." Mocked Russell playfully in a big theatrical voice.

Cardin laughed and smiled, instead remembering what Pete had said earlier. "Nah, that's a stupid name. I was thinking Keepers of the Gate."

* * *

**Versailles: ****A head cannon country to the East of Vale that is essentially a France that focuses on pride, attitude, and artistic value of things. Jaune's family hails from Versailles in my head cannon until an event forced them to leave and come to Vale for their own safety.**

* * *

**AN:**** I'm done! Hallelujah, praise the lord I am done! I started this thing this morning when I thought, hey lets make a Cardin Velvet story, then it turned into a Cardin dying story, and then it turned into a Cardin as a military leader and hero cause hey why the hell not. **

**So this is kind of a spiritual successor to my other story, **_**History Lesson**_**, as at the root of it all I wanted Cardin to have to defend a large amount of Faunus civilians without complaint or even really note of their genetic history. That and I really needed an excuse for Cardin to be not as much a douche as he likely would be, as I can't write douche characters.**

**To be painfully honest, this was just an excuse to work on my fight scenes so constructive criticisms on those would be really nice. i know there is only really like three scenes that qualify in here but eh, got to start somewhere right?**

**In any case, if you've somehow sat through this long as hell story and AN then I congratulate you and thank you for reading. Big shout out to Dravyn LeCrux, Theeubernoob, A little Grimm, Jetzul, Darkblaze40, and AndreiN00B for reviewing my other piece _Good Night's Sleep_. Thank you all for your great advice, support, and the time you took to sit down and read that.**

**Well in any case, my brain is literally fried and I can barely write right now so I'll just stop before I end up just smashing my head into the keyboard to type. Cheers and have a great day, night, or any other unit of time you happen to use!**


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